The most helpful favourable review

The most helpful critical review

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5.0 out of 5 starsThe Waterboys - "The Irish Basement Tapes"
This review is of the Waterboys "Fisherman's Blues Deluxe Edition" a birthday present that arrived with angels wings. It is difficult to recall today the sniffy response this album received on release. It was seen by many as a deviation from the "Big Music" which Mike Scott had driven so hard and with such passion on previous releases. It was argued that "Fisherman's...

3.0 out of 5 starsTRANSCENDENT.. AT TIMES
If you were touched by the original album back when it was first released (I had it on cassette), you should probably stop dithering and buy this now.

I was always unsure why the LP didn't get more notice than the band's previous work. Perhaps it was because it was more traditional in a musical sense, and was deemed to not have the appeal to a young...

This review is of the Waterboys "Fisherman's Blues Deluxe Edition" a birthday present that arrived with angels wings. It is difficult to recall today the sniffy response this album received on release. It was seen by many as a deviation from the "Big Music" which Mike Scott had driven so hard and with such passion on previous releases. It was argued that "Fisherman's Blues" was a sharp rupture from the Waterboys previous output; a unfortunate dalliance with "traditionalism". In fact it was a logical continuation of Scotts great vision. The brilliant "This is the Sea" is full of Celtic inflections and he was always a musical magpie drawing from an astonishing gamut of styles and influences. What is fascinating about this release is the sheer scale of experimentation, exploration and emotion that went into constructing a single album. "Fishermans box" proves that Scott, Wickham, Thistlethwaite and comrades in effect recorded the "Irish Basement Tapes". It is a magnificent box, VFM in spades and if the packing quality could have been notched up a ratchet or two, the music implores us to live with the shame. Below is a review of the six main discs of the box set. The primary source for much of the information is the detailed analysis in the excellent booklet in the set plus the Waterboys web site (well worth checking out)) onto which this reviewer has added some personal thoughts.

CD 1 was recorded in its entirety on Jan 23 1986, the first day of the Fisherman's Blues sessions. Thus begins a journey for the band in to new territory which was ill understood by critics who roundly berated the departure from the powerhouse rock of "A Pagan Place" and the anthems of "This is the sea" in what was described by one critic at the time as a "descent into a folk backwater". Scott admits that he had become obsessed with Irish music although the songs on this desk are an electric mix of old country and gospel numbers plus new originals. Two of the tracks "Fisherman's Blues" and the cover of Van Morrison's "Sweet Thing" are remasters from the original album and sound great. The cover of Dylan's "Girl from the north Country" is excellent but has been aired before ditto "Meet me at the station" Of the unreleased stuff the cover of Hank Williams "I'm so lonesome I could cry" is workmanlike but the piano version of "World Party" is a joy. The highlight however is a 10 minute long feast of the live staple "Saints and Angels" finally released in album form.

CD 2 was recorded between March and September 1986 in Dublin's Windmill Lane Studio. You can hear Scott and co really beginning to breath out and expand their musical reach. The period sees them jumping with musical ease from country, blues and folk music. It opens with one of the greatest Waterboys songs the sheer power of "We will not be lovers" now at its remastered best. It remains an inescapable puzzle of life why "Too Close To Heaven" was left off the main album unless its length just precluded inclusion. Scott's obsession with Hank Williams continues with a nice version of "Lost Highway" which in turn impacted on later songs with Bonny Bramlett's and Leon Russell's "Lonesome and a long way from home" being a case in point. The bulk of tracks on this disc are previously unreleased and whilst including some fragments highlights include the prototype "Higherbound" and a rousing version of "Will the Circle be unbroken".

CD 3 was recorded Dec 2-7 1986 in Fantasy Studios, California, with producer Bob Johnston and access to a range of top notch US session musicians not least the brilliant drummer Jim Keltner. As for the songs the great remaster of "Lonesome Old Wind" sounds superb and gives further proof what a great singer Mike Scott is. Ditto the pounding sax driven "Blues for your baby". Ok the cover of the Beatles "Sgt Peppers" was clearly great fun in the studio but perhaps should have stayed there. Yet taking the rough with the smooth is the key to enjoying this box set. Alternatively the early version of "You in the sky" is a clear equal to the smoother remaster. This disc also majors on prototype versions of several songs and another 11 tracks are previously unreleased.

CD 4 was recorded between December 1986 & February 1987. The nucleus of the Fisherman's blues sound is too be found on this disc not least in the stunning "I will meet you in heaven again" and the in particular Waterboys classics like the 11-minute "Higher In Time Symphony". This is a song which suggests that FB should have at least been a double on release. "The Golden Age" actually sounds like a mix of alt country and Irish music while Anton Thistlethwaite singing on "Billy The Kid" should have convinced Scott to hand the microphone over more regularly. A fair chunk of this disk was on the 2006 remaster and "Higherbound" is not quite perfected on this disk. 10 tracks here are previously unreleased.

CD 5 was recorded Feb-Sept 1987, mostly in Dublin's Windmill Lane. "Higher bound" is completely signed, sealed and delivered at last. Songs like the earlier version of "When will be married" are more traditionally Irish than the final album versions, It contains unreleased songs and nice versions of the album mainstays "Fisherman's Blues" and "Strange Boat" which has a slightly Phil Spectorish ambience to it. Granted the blues version of "If I cant have you" is solid but not necessarily a key track and on this disk the recorded studio foolery sees tracks like "Headphone mix song" wearing a bit thin. Yet who can deny that overall Disc 5 is one of the key culmination stages on this musical journey with 12 tracks here are previously unreleased.

CD 6 contains all the recordings made at Spiddal House, near Galway, in the spring of 1988. The Celtic folk influences scream out of this disc which has the highest level of previously unreleased tracks - some 17 songs altogether. Indeed this is "Fisherman's Blues" evolving into "Room to Roam" with two versions on the disk of that albums "In Search of the Rose" (which Scotts perfectionism took to 99 takes) and an early "Spring comes to Spiddal". It contains a nice version of the classic Scottish folk song "Two Recruiting Sergeants" a song popularised by The Corries and the evolution of Yeats "Stolen Child" which finally evolves from piano and vocal demo to full recording. It also confirms emphatically that "When Ye Go Away" is truly one of Scott's greatest songs. The version of Guthrie's "This Land is your Land" is rather disposable but rounding the whole thing is off with a sweet version of Dylan's "Bucket of Rain" from "Blood on the Tracks" is a nice touch.

And so the curtain comes down on a musical feast of the highest order. It was the producer Richard Curtis who once boldly ventured the opinion that 'I'm starting to feel, to my own surprise, that the Waterboys are the next best group after the Beatles". Perhaps a claim to far; but at the same time the ongoing misperception of this band as some sort of hazy 1980s relic is a criminal understatement of Mike Scott's musical importance and premier status in the canon of rock music. With "Fisherman's Box" there is now tangible and overwhelming proof of the Waterboys standing as one of the most important British bands of the past 25 years who fully achieved their aim of producing "The Big Music". You really do struggle to think of other musicians who embarked on such an authentic eclectic pilgrimage. that took in so many pit stops and which led to such joyous quality outcomes. "Fishermans Box" is a true musical event.

As an owner of the original single and collectors double CD versions of Fisherman's Blues, plus the Too close to Heaven / Fisherman's Blues Part 2 CDs, I was a little worried that the additional material provided in this set would disappoint. I needn't have worried - and should have known better as Mike Scott has always struck me as having far too much integrity to release material not worthy of him and his ever changing, expanding and evolving band of musical brothers. In brief, if you liked the original, you'll adore this. I haven't stopped playing it since receipt, each new listening providing something different at which to marvel. The accompanying booklet is great too, Mike's comments painting little camoes the sum of which comprise the giant canvas of Fisherman's Blues era Waterboys, a canvas which I will always treasure. No problems with the packaging either (I elected the 6 CD version so it may be different packaging to the other version) which others have unfortunately experienced.

As others have said, something went badly wrong in packaging. The foam insert, glue and CDs all seem to have been put into the box at the same time. Since the spaces for the CD sleeves are cut right through the foam, and the glue hadn't set that means CD sleeves stuck to the back of the box.

That's really poor packaging error on such an expensive release.

I fortunately read on here and only one of my disc sleeves was, and still is, stuck. Don't break your boxset or rip the stuck sleeve(s), just be gentle and fold the sleeve forward and the CD will come out.

That said, the music is stunning. The first disc, covering the initial session is amazing and could easily have been a release in its own right. So many of these songs are familiar from live tapes and it's now such a great feeling to here them in their studio forms. Since the majority was recorded live, it really is like sitting in on the band playing. I'm looking forward to several months worth of getting to know these recordings of a band in their absolute prime.

The Waterboys have to be one of the most inspirational bands. Mike Scott's breadth of thought as he put Fisherman's Blues together is fully highlighted in this fantastic box set. Working versions, out takes etc, all show the development of what could be The Waterboys' most complete album. Wonderful!

If you were touched by the original album back when it was first released (I had it on cassette), you should probably stop dithering and buy this now.

I was always unsure why the LP didn't get more notice than the band's previous work. Perhaps it was because it was more traditional in a musical sense, and was deemed to not have the appeal to a young record-buying public that Velvet Underground ripoffs did at the time.

But six discs is simply too much. Some of these jams are tentative, and go on for too long. The box could've been a more manageable four discs of high quality stuff. I would've left off the still-working-this-out demos although sometimes even these tracks are nice to have on as background music.

As for the good stuff, it's an embarrassment of riches. The original LP could easily have been a double at the time with no let down in quality.

An amazing set of songs..I never really knew how long the sessions for The Fishermans Blues sessions went on for nor the amount of time it took to record the album,basically with the standard Fishermans Blues album you get a compilation of what the band considered the best bits of various sessions whereas this is kind of the Directors Cut!!For an insight into the places and producers and personnel worked with during this time Mike Scott's autobiography is well worth a read..that said the booklet within this box of CDs does tell the tale pretty well itself.The real shock with this set is that it's pretty much all good...sure the occasional jam can get near that self indulgent tag but for sheer musicianship and songcraft ..well this is a great purchase and ultimately it sounds like a band having fun and can that really be such a bad thing?I'm also of the mind that generally this is a capsule of a different time..I suspect in these days of digital recording much of this stuff would have either been fixed(and lost some of its rustic air) or just been deleted..digital recording has opened up so many options but I suspect it has made the recording process cheaper and led to less experimentation as a basic track gets fixed rather than constantly reworked.Amazing too that the record company seemed to have supported a band over such a long period of recording demos and takes here and there with floating personnel..however there's a reason why Fisherman's blues is such a fine album and this set shows that.All in all a good companion piece to Fisherman's Blues...you could just own this truth he known as all the tracks are here however Fisherman's blues offers a solid abridged version to this box and stands well alongside it.

It is tempting, as one gets older, to mythologise albums that were important to you when you were young. However, in the case of Fisherman's Blues it may be justified, as this box set demonstrates. For an album to begin with Mike Scott booking a recording studio in secret and grew into something approaching a lifestyle choice, Fisherman's Blues remains a remarkable achievement and is the high water mark (pardon the pun) of Mike Scott's career so far.

The box set expands on this, offering up a series of songs and surprises from the Fisherman's Blues sessions. At its best, it's incredible, jaw-dropping stuff and you wonder why some of this didn't make the album, or even the "Too Close To Heaven" release some years ago. At its worse, it's pretty grim, but then, there's no way you're going to like everything on a 6 CD box set.

Listing favourites would make this review far too long and boring. Suffice to say that, as I neared the end of the sixth CD and having spent so much time in the company of these fine gentlemen, I felt a genuine sorrow that I wouldn't hear these songs for the first time ever again.

Perhaps the oddest thing is that there's no Big Music version of Higherbound. I could've sworn I heard it once, but now I can't find it. Maybe I heard it in a dream. (A sentence which pretty much sums up how I feel about The Waterboys.)

I've waited for this set since long before it was announced this summer.

'Fisherman's Blues' was the first Waterboys album I bought (I worked my way back to the 'Big Music'), and like the prime albums of Dylan, the Dead, and one or two others, it's never left my dansette since. I similarly loved 'Room to Roam', hoovered up the deluxe editions of each on release, and sought out the two-disc version of 'Too Close To Heaven'. Other snippets, mostly on bootleg have come my way, and I was lucky enough, all though probably not in Mike Scott's eyes to get the long disappeared 'Live Adventures..' album.

But it was the section of The Waterboys official website accorded to the full session listings from the long period of recordings which formed this album that I repeatedly returned to, crossing off odd tracks as they became available on archival releases, and seeking out obscure single releases.

Much as I love the original album, I always thought it a bit idiosyncratic: the two sides - in the context of the original LP - so different, taken by and large, as I subsequently discovered, from two distinct periods in the overall sessions. This is where this box makes more sense in a lot of ways following the path that Mike, Steve and Anto took during the course of their musical discoveries.

I'm not going to say much about the individual tracks. It's enough to say that if you love all aspects of the original album that you'll love this.

As to the eight-disc box/package, the booklet and inserts are lovely; the LP vinyl beautifully mastered; and, the seventh CD of 'musical signposts' an education. I'll pass on the foam partitioning the individual card packaged CDs sit in, but that's a very small criticism. It's the music that counts, and you won't regret buying this.

At last the long awaited box set has arrived. I have to declare it was well worth the wait. The whole package looks and sounds great.The booklet starts with an essay by Decemberist, Colin Meloy paying homage to his favourite album. Then we have a track by track breakdown by Mike Scott himself. The three 12x12 prints are of fine quality and the 180g vinyl is great to have as my old copy is almost worn out.The we have six cd's of amazing music. All the tracks help to build a picture of the conflict inside Mike's head as he tried to get his musical vision committed to tape.On evidence present here we could have had a folk/roots "Sandanista" all those years ago. At least three albums of high quality or maybe more are contained within these sessions.I remember seeing The Waterboys playing Mike's old stomping ground of Ayr on the original "Fisherman's Blues" and it was a fantastic gig. Something magical was certainly happening then as you can hear on these discs.The bonus cd "Fisherman's Roots" is also a great addition to a perfect box set.

5/5 for the music content, a must have for any waterboys fans out there, although the same can 't be said about the booklet, yeah the contents of the booklet are superb but sadly the pages fall out in your hands as if it was put together by a child but thanks Amazon for sending me another booklet which I am scared to open.